I'm Back!

Hi guys! My adorable friend Andy reminded me that now that I have computer again, I have no excuse not to update my blog. I just got the new mac about three days ago, so I haven't really delayed it that long. And I've been pretty busy.

So? What has happened to Kristine since I last wrote? (and at midnight! ha ha) It's actually about 2:30pm on a Sunday here in Florida. I am planning on going to play Ultimate Frisbee soon, but I figured I'd update this before I go. I'm really not sure what it is about Florida, but I'd defiantly call it the "vacation state". Why, you might ask? Well, you see, there is something about the air (or maybe the water as in the California girls song) that makes you very "lazy". Not lazy for work (don't worry, I'm always on my toes with those kids; they make me super buzy) but just lazy for doing extra stuff after work. Let me give you a typical day here in Florida.

7:00 AM Wake up (the sun wakes me up), look at the clock, shake my head and go back to sleep. [no way am I waking up that early. You all know me and the early morning, ha ha]

8:00-9:00 AM Depending on when I went to sleep the night before (sometimes, for some reason, I can't seem to sleep here), I'll wake up in-between here. Take a shower, and then get ready. You know the usual. Oh, and make my lunch.(and Mom, all my roommates make their lunches in the morning, like me. It's really not that weird. ha ha)

10:20 AM Head out the door for the library. The library is down the street (literally) and takes about two minutes to get there while driving. I start work at 10:30, so this gives me time in case something happens between those two minutes of driving. lol

10:30 AM-1:30 PM Prep for the tutoring session (this includes looking up information, trying to decide what strategies will help them in whatever they are doing. I take notes the day before sometimes, when I have time, on what they have been working on so that I can try to help them the next day, since their homework is usually similar. Of course sometimes I have new people, and then that is really not very helpful anyway.) and other random stuff. I get to look around the library as part of this prep too. You'd be surprised, I often still find new books for the kids to read even though I looked the day before. It's crazy. Then again, it's also called a library.

*Side note: On Wednesday mornings, I go over to the Children's museum and read stories to a variety of little kids. And when I say little, I mean small. In both size and shape. No, I'm talking about myself. These are babies to about three years old, maybe four. This just started and I'll do it for about a month. You should see me reading "Five Little Monkeys Sitting in a Tree". I have little monkey puppets on my hands and I'm trying to turn the pages, sing the song, and keep little kids happy. It's pretty amusing, I"m sure.

**One more side note. [these side notes are fun] Soon, I'll be starting a computer class in the mornings for adults. We are still trying to work out the details for it, and I haven't even figured out what I'll teach, but we will work it out soon enough. Should be fun. They'll probably be easier to teach then the professors, right Aaron? lol

1:30 PM-2:30 PM So I'm supposed to still be doing prep during this time, but sometimes I have visitors, such as my awesome bosses who are lots of fun, or I'll visit Tiffany to get advice or the librarians. I usually do that during this time, because sometimes the kids come early and so I start early too, and if I'm in my office, they don't know I'm around.

2:30 PM-7:00 PM This is when the real fun starts. The kids are supposed to sign up, but they often don't. So now we have a walk-in sheet that they have to sign, and I will only do walk-ins if the signed up session student can a) handle distractions (usually not, but often they will still say its ok) b) are friends with the other student (there is a lot of fighting, so if they hate each other or argue, I try my best not to have them in the room at the same time). I say "try" because nothing works often. I'm usually still telling them to stop bouncing in their chair, yelling at each other, or talking back to me. I used to spend more time telling the kids to behave, but now that I made a list of rules and had them sign it, it's getting easier. I also got rid of the candy. That worked the best. Some of them say they hate me and don't want to see me anymore (okay, maybe not "hate" but "dislike") but then I brought in the new "reward" system. If they earn enough stickers, they can get prizes. One sticker a day, and they can only get it if they earn it. I can, at any time, take away their sticker. Hopefully I can be mean enough to take away their sticker, as they will defiantly need to lose it before the realize the value of it.

7:00 PM-7:30PM I'm usually able to sneak out sometime around here; sometimes I have a meeting or something, but usually i get to leave. Ah, what an amazing feeling that is when you can finally get away! :)

7:30 PM-10:00 PM Depending on the day, the time, etc. I do a variety of things during this time. Number 1 is eating dinner. Notice during that tutoring time, there is NO time to eat dinner. And unlike other people, who get a break, I get no breaks either. it's non-stop craziness. I can't even leave to use the restroom, and if I do, I'm scared the whole time of what trouble the kids are probably up too. Even though I put one of the in charge when I leave (even if it's only to my office) they still manage to find a way to be super naughty. It's crazy. Was I really that bad of a kid too at some point? I shudder to think. And don't answer that JJ. I know your opinions on the matter. ha ha

Anyway, sometimes I have Bible study on Tuesdays, or I watch TV shows, or I'm so annoyed at the day (sometimes the day is really bad, such as when there were 8 police officers at the library at the same time because some fight was supposed to happen and all the kids were going nuts) then I try to find someone to go with me on a walk on the beach, but more often than not, I can't find anyone. And sadly it's dark by then, and I don't want to go alone, so then I'll scrapbook to try and relax. I often try to write letters, and now I"ll hopefully update my blog too, now that I have a computer again.

10:00 PM -12:00AM Usually I watch some TV and then go to bed, or talk to my roommates. On Mondays, we have a meeting at 9pm, and that often goes for a while too. It's a lot of stuff, we are pretty busy a lot. Weekends (like today) are more lazy, but we still have a lot to do.

So there you go. A run-down of a sort of basic day for me. Still crazy and nuts, and I often feel like I have really crazy college students still. I haven't figured out who is worse. Drunk college students or hyped up children. The children might be winning right now...

More soon. Thanks for the comments guys! They were really fun to read!